2013 Golden Mousetrap Awards: Automation & Control Finalists

Design News is pleased to present the finalists in the Automation & Control category of our 2013 Golden Mousetrap Awards. The products featured here are in the running to be named the winner of our annual contest -- in their respective subcategories.

The winners will be announced during a live ceremony held during the Pacific Design & Manufacturing Show in Anaheim, Calif., Tuesday, February 11, and on Designnews.com following the ceremony.

This year we are working with FIRST, an organization founded by Dean Kamen committed to showing youth the promising futures that science and technology can hold. Proceeds from the event will benefit FIRST and go toward scholarships to high school engineering students to further their ambitions.

Very informative Lauren. A very impressive lineup this year. I would be hard put to vote for one over the other. Excellent selection. I am assuming all of these are production products and none are awaiting commercialization. That actually makes the decision more difficult. Very informative.

There are certainly a lot of innovative products in the running and in that slideshow, but the one that I see that has the option of reducing system use effort and pain is that "hand-tightened high pressure hydraulic coupling" from Gates. NOt with it being used in the intended mining applications, but for use in industrial areas where quick repairs and changeovers are often vital and always needing to be done quickly. Not as cool as some of the new processors and controllers, but definitely filling a need. Perhaps the Gates marketing people will consider telling their industrial customers about this product.

Focus on Fundamentals consists of 45-minute on-line classes that cover a host of technologies. You learn without leaving the comfort of your desk. All classes are taught by subject-matter experts and all are archived. So if you can't attend live, attend at your convenience.